“Zuo Liang, when you caused an uproar at our Military Police Headquarters last time, weren’t you so capable?” Bai Jin was one who never forgot a grudge. He walked up to Zuo Liang’s side and without hesitation delivered a kick to his chest.

Zuo Liang, for all that he was, was a tough man — he let out only a muffled grunt.

He raised his head and fixed a cold gaze on those before him: “You knew all along, didn’t you?”

“Yes, we did.” Bai Jin said, glancing behind him. Shi Ting walked in through the door with his men, and Bai Jin continued: “You fool. After you caused a scene at the Military Police Headquarters last time, your every move has been under our surveillance. You thought your plan was airtight, but you were merely crawling into a net we had cast in advance.”

Shi Ting had his officers administer the antidote to everyone present. This sleeping incense was very easy to fall prey to, but also very easy to counteract — the antidote needed only ten-some minutes after being swallowed to take effect.

Qiao Yiran had not fully lost consciousness like the others; of everyone in the Citang, only she and Qiao Hanlin had retained a trace of awareness. This was likely because people of different constitutions had different tolerance for the drug.

Qiao Yiran drank the antidote, and someone helped her to a seat off to the side.

In that one instant earlier, she had truly felt despair. Yet seeing the Military Police Headquarters officers appear, she could roughly guess: this was Shi Ting and Old Master Qiao’s ploy to lure the enemy into a trap.

Old Master Qiao had been extremely cautious. He had not told anyone — not even his own daughter and son — because the more people knew, the easier it was for cracks to show and for the opponent to detect something was amiss.

As for Qiao Hanlin’s going out, and his drinking with Zuo Liang, all of that had been within the Military Police Headquarters’ knowledge as well. So Old Master Qiao, knowing all along, had chosen not to stop it.

Qiao Hanlin had been used as bait.

By now, Old Master Qiao had also woken up. The first thing he did upon waking was to look around anxiously. Only when he saw that his entire family was unharmed and the killer had been brought to justice did he let out a deep sigh of relief.

When Shi Ting had originally proposed this plan to draw the snake out of its hole, Old Master Qiao had weighed it carefully before agreeing. Although Shi Ting had repeatedly assured him that no one from the Qiao family would come to any harm, Old Master Qiao still could not bring himself to place the lives of his whole family in another’s hands.

He had deliberated at length and consulted at length with Old Master Qiao the elder, and in the end agreed to Shi Ting’s plan.

Now, seeing his whole family safe, he let out another deep sigh of relief. If even one person had met with misfortune, he would have found it impossible to absolve himself.

Someone helped Old Master Qiao to sit in a chair. The Qiao family members began to revive one by one, and apart from Old Madam Qiao, those who were younger had largely recovered by half.

“What happened?” someone asked in complete bewilderment.

“Why are Military Police Headquarters officers here? What’s going on?”

Shi Ting, listening to everyone murmuring and discussing among themselves, said: “Master Qiao, please ask your family members to go rest.”

Old Master Qiao nodded and called in a number of attendants and maids. These people helped and carried those who had revived, and they left the Citang one after another.

In the end, only Old Master Qiao’s three generations of family and Qiao Yiran remained.

Over here, Old Master Qiao began telling his children and grandchildren of the long-buried story from the past. Meanwhile, over where Zuo Liang was, Shi Ting had already stridden to stand before him.

“Don’t bother asking me anything. Kill me or slice me to pieces — do as you see fit.” Zuo Liang turned his head away, his tone defiant, clearly no longer intending to cooperate with the Military Police Headquarters.

“Zuo Liang, I’ll take you somewhere.” Shi Ting finished speaking and turned to walk out. Zheng Yun removed the other end of the handcuffs from the great cauldron and clamped it on his own wrist, then gave a sharp forward pull. “Move.”

Zuo Liang had been struck by the great cauldron, then kicked by Bai Jin, and had sustained internal injuries long before. Even if he wanted to resist, being cuffed together with Zheng Yun made any attempt to flee impossible.

Zheng Yun brought Zuo Liang through a stretch of trees to a half-dilapidated shrine hall.

The shrine stood within the grove, surrounded on all sides by various plants. The interior had been swept clean, and incense burned without cease.

Inside the shrine, countless memorial tablets were arranged in rows — bearing no names, rank after rank of them, drifting in the smoke of the incense.

Zuo Liang looked at this shrine, his face filled with bewilderment.

“Back then, your father was hired by these three families to serve as their cartographer and drew maps onto the backs of those three families’ eldest sons. After the maps were finished, he too failed to escape the fate of the other bearers — like those porters, he met his end.” Shi Ting’s voice was neither hurried nor slow, yet it struck Zuo Liang’s heart like a muffled clap of thunder.

The fist at his side clenched suddenly, and his eyes blazed with a searing killing intent.

“So you knew all along.” Zuo Liang’s teeth ground together with a harsh rasping sound. “How did you suspect me?”

Shi Ting said: “You left evidence at the scene.”

“Impossible.” Zuo Liang was unconvinced. “I executed everything perfectly. How could you possibly have found evidence?”

“You wounded your right hand at the scene of the Chen family massacre, so your right hand bears a scar.” Zheng Yun raised the hand shackled by the handcuffs. On Zuo Liang’s right hand, there was indeed a long scar. “Furthermore, the manner in which you killed people also demonstrated that you are left-handed.”

“How could you know I was injured? There was so much blood at the scene — could you really tell from the blood stains?” Zuo Liang found Shi Ting’s words to be the stuff of fantasy.

“You’ve actually hit on the truth.” Bai Jin let out a short laugh. “Our sister-in-law happens to have exactly that ability — it was she who deduced from the blood stains that you had been injured, and then estimated from the volume of bleeding that your right hand would bear a permanent scar.”

Zuo Liang stared at his right hand and said nothing.

Shi Ting continued: “At the scene of the Xu family massacre, you left behind traces of your weapon. When you fought with the eldest son of the Xu family, you met fierce resistance. Unable to kill him in a single blow, you had no choice but to drive the dagger into his chest, leaving the impression of your weapon in his wound.”

Shi Ting held up the three-edged bayonet in his hand, which reflected a sharp glint from his eyes: “This type of bayonet differs from an ordinary dagger, and so the wound pattern it creates differs as well. We deduced from this that the killer was using a three-edged bayonet. A three-edged bayonet is the fixed blade on a rifle; given the killer’s exceptional fighting ability, we further narrowed down the killer’s identity to someone with a military background. And you held a position in Shi Guang’s army, giving you access to a bayonet. Beyond that, Bai Jin discovered tyre tracks at the entrance of the Xu family home and, based on the tread pattern, determined that it was a military vehicle — and you also had the convenience of access to military vehicles.”

Zuo Liang said: “There are many people who meet these conditions. Why did you specifically suspect me?”

“The last time you caused a scene at the Military Police Headquarters, you happened to expose the scar on your right hand and the weapon you habitually use. Combined with Master Qiao’s description — among the victims, there was a cartographer with the surname Zuo, and you happen to share that surname as well. When all the coincidences are added together, they cease to be coincidences.”

“Ha.” Zuo Liang let out a cold laugh. “Yes — I admit it. I killed both the Chen and Xu families. I disguised myself as a wealthy merchant, claiming I wanted to do business with them, and they welcomed me through their doors with joy.”

Those two families had thought they were welcoming a god of fortune, unaware they were welcoming a god of death. In the moment of their deaths, none of them knew why they were dying.

“I feel not the slightest regret for killing these people. They all deserved it.” Zuo Liang’s smile carried a bloodthirsty cruelty.

Shi Ting said coldly: “Those three families did commit acts that defied heaven and reason. But the children of just a few years old — even those still in swaddling clothes — did they deserve to die too?”

“Then did my father deserve to die? Did those porters deserve to die?” Zuo Liang’s voice cracked with the force of his cry.

“Every wrong has its source, every debt its creditor. A group of innocent people have already died. Must yet another group of innocent people go to their deaths as reparation?”

Shi Ting pointed at the shrine before them. “Among these tablets, there is one for your father.”

Hearing this, Zuo Liang looked over with something like shock.

“Old Master Qiao, by nature straightforward and upright, had no knowledge of the other two families’ plans at the time. When it happened, he was powerless to stop it. But all these years he has been tormented by remorse and guilt, which is why he built this shrine in his home, to enshrine and honor those innocent souls. And moreover…”

Shi Ting looked at Zuo Liang, whose face had begun to twitch. “After the event, he sent someone to find your family, intending to care for your father’s kin. But you were not at home at the time, so that person took away only your mother and younger brother.”

Zuo Liang’s eyes flew wide open, his voice going hoarse with agitation: “You know the whereabouts of my mother and younger brother?”

Shi Ting said: “Old Master Qiao has not entirely extinguished his conscience. Although this matter was not his intent, he could not shake off the guilt — which is why he enshrines and mourns them here. Those three families were certainly at fault, but what fault were their innocent family members guilty of? Did they deserve to become victims of your vengeance, cut down by your blade? In doing what you have done, what difference is there between you and those three families?”

“I don’t want to hear any of this. I ask only one thing: where are my mother and younger brother?” Zuo Liang’s eyes were red, his emotions churning. If Zheng Yun had not been holding him back, he would already have rushed at Shi Ting.

“If you are willing to cooperate, I can help you find your mother and younger brother.”

Zuo Liang panted and said: “How do I know you’re not deceiving me?”

“It was Old Master Qiao who sent someone to care for your family. That person still has contact with the Qiao family, so as long as we find this person, we will know your mother’s whereabouts.”

Zuo Liang lowered his eyes. The sound of his teeth grinding was harsh and sharp.

“Zuo Liang, I know that all these years, alongside searching for your enemies, you have never stopped searching for your lost family. And now, Old Master Qiao is your only lead.” Shi Ting looked at the silent Zuo Liang. “You may believe I am deceiving you — but you also have no choice but to trust me, because apart from me, no one can find your kin.”

Zuo Liang still kept his head lowered, yet his mind was drifting back through the images of his childhood.

He was the eldest child in the family; beneath him was a younger brother. But that younger brother seemed more sensible than he was — whenever he managed to get hold of something good, he would always secretly set aside a share for him.

And his mother? A woman who toiled tirelessly for the household. He remembered her sitting beneath the lamplight, mending his clothes, saying she hoped he would grow up to become a useful man.

Even now, the faces of his mother and younger brother remained so vivid and clear. In countless dreams, he had dreamed they came looking for him.

—